Seong Mi-Na
Seong Mi-na (Korean:성미나, seong mina/'Japanese':ソンミナ, Sonmina) is a fictional character in Namco's Soulcalibur series. First appearing in Soul Edge, she has returned for all subsequent games in the series, with the exception of Soulcalibur Legends and Soulcalibur V. What lies in her soul is Trust. Personality Seong Mi-na is a strong-willed woman who is quick-witted, but also very stubborn. She's very determined but overconfident in combat, and often has a tendency to mock her opponents, often times calling them "jerks" or "bullies". Biography ''Soul Edge'' As a young girl, Mi-na was a skilled warrior from a young age. However, her beauty was the main drawback, and as a result, Mi-na was constantly harassed by a number of boys who wished to marry her. Her father Seong Han-myeong unfortunately approved of this behavior from the boys, as he wished that she put her warrior skills aside and marry a suitor, preferably one named Hwang Seong-gyeong, whom Han-myeong took a liking to. After hearing that Japanese raiders were becoming more aggressive to the Korean Peninsula, Seong Mi-na attempted to join the military, but she was barred because she was a girl. After hearing rumors about the so-called "Sword of Salvation" (Soul Edge), she decided that if she could not prove her worthiness from the military, she could prove it by finding the fabled sword for her country. This prompted her to leave her home. ''Soulcalibur'' Mi-na was initially forced to cut her quest short when she encountered Hwang, who convinced her to return to Korea to stop an impending attack from Japanese raiders; however, she soon resumed Mi-na resumed her quest for the Soul Edge, after her father's obsession for her to marry Hwang further annoyed her. Along the way, she encountered a female warrior named Ivy, who warned her about Soul Edge's true power and intention, and advised her to return home for her safety. Angered by this setback (as Ivy calls her a "weak little girl"), she challenged Ivy to a fight, but was quickly defeated, before Ivy promptly left. After being humiliated, Mi-na continued on her quest nonetheless. She eventually encountered a drunken warrior (who was in fact Chai Xianghua's long-lost father and an exiled student of the Ling Sheng-Su Temple Ruin), whom she challenged and subsequently lost. Despite losing once again, Mi-na asked if she could train under him, which he reluctantly agreed. Eventually however, the drunken warrior abruptly left her after claiming he would "go get some more alcohol", but left a note stating that there was nothing else he could teach her. Despite her mentor's sudden departure, Mi-na was not setback, and for the next two years, she continued to train herself, before she was force to return back home by Hwang once more. ''Soulcalibur II'' Four years later, Mi-na met a student of her father, Hong Yun-seong, who was rejected to a battle with Hwang. Feeling sorry for Yun-seong, she gave him a family heirloom: a dao called the "White Storm", as a form of apology. Eventually, Mi-na learned that Yun-seong had abruptly left in pursuit of Soul Edge. Min-na attempted to pursue him to retrieve the heirloom, but was setback from her father once more, who refused to let her go after Yun-seong on her own. However, after learning from her daughter that if he continued to protest against her departure, she would sooner or later escape from her home once, and reluctantly allowed her to depart once more. Han-myeong also considered allowing her to allow Mi-na to retrieve Soul Edge along the way, but before he was able to give her the blessing for that task, Mi-na was long gone. ''Soulcalibur III'' Seong Mi-na traveled throughout the Ming Empire on her search for Yun-seong. Eventually, while she was in one city, she got into a fight with another individual, whom she quickly defeated. One of the witnesses of the battle caught attention to Mi-na's fighting style, noting that it was very similar to the Ling-Sheng Su style, and recommended her to visit the Edge Master's temple deep within the Himalayas, to which Mi-na accepted. Upon her arrival to the temple, she discovered that it was largely destroyed many years earlier, but surprisingly found that an old master of the said style was still alive and living within the grounds of the temple's ruins. The old man, who was in fact Edge Master, Kilik's master initially refused to battle Mi-na when the latter challenged him, but he eventually relented and agreed to battle her, where he came out victorious. The old man invited her to stay at the ruins, which she agreed to further enhance her skills with her weapon. During her time there, she told Edge Master her stories about her travels, which the old man became very intrigued in, but after learning that she was also searching for Soul Edge, he sternly warned her that the sword was in fact evil. Mi-na tried to dismiss the claim, but knowing the old man's age and vast knowledge, she came to believe that he was being honest. Several months later, Mi-na decided to leave the temple and resume her quest to find Yun-seong again, and warn him that the sword he was searching for was truly evil. ''Soulcalibur IV'' Seong Mi-na eventually finds Yun-seong in Istanbul, who is traveling with a young girl named Talim. When she tells Yun-seong that Soul Edge was an evil sword, he quickly dismisses the claim, and states that he believes the sword is the only salvation to saving their kingdom from the Japanese raiders. The following night, he leaves the two girls in his quest to obtain the evil sword. Talim assured Mi-na that Yun-seong will make the right decision when the time comes, but also tells her that there is a sword that is the bain of Soul Edge, called Soul Calibur. Mi-na started to believe that Soul Calibur was likely the true "Sword of Salvation" that she had heard about years earlier, and considered finding it to stop Soul Edge. Mi-na then left Talim to stop Yun-seong from obtaining Soul Edge. In her ending Seong Mi-na successfully obtains Soul Calibur. Likewise, Yun-seong then grabs Soul Edge, which was also dropped following the battle with Algol. Mi-na is shocked when Yun-seong exclaims that he wishes to use Soul Edge "To protect our homeland, this is what we need. Absolute power! I don't want to see the people that I love suffering anymore!" as his body begins to become processed by Soul Edge. Yun-Seong then prepares to attack Mi-na, stating that she was trying to stall him from obtaining the sword, and declares her his enemy. Mi-na, now wielding Soul Calibur instead of her zanbatou, prepares for battle against her former friend-turned enemy. It is implied in the epilogue that she successfully defeated Yun-seong (and possibly destroyed Soul Edge, as the text states "When she finally settled everything, she returned home with a smile." ''Soulcalibur VI'' In an alternate timeline, Seong Mi-na is once again presented as a steadfast girl who refuses to marry and wishes to prove her skill in battle. Once more, she leaves her home in search of the "Sword of Salvation" Soul Edge, but is met with difficultly along the way when she is defeated by Ivy and later a drunken warrior (Chai Xianhua's father). Despite this setback, she trains extensively with the latter to not let her stubbornness overtake her in battle. She eventually returns home after coming to realize that while she still wants to prove her worthiness, she must also make the right decisions along the way. In the "Libra of Souls" campaign, Seong Mi-na is encountered by the protagonist and their follower Grøh, she stubbornly refuses to let them enter a tomb where they are standing in front of, and challenges the two to a battle, which Grøh states that if she loses, she must leave the area immediately. The protagonist defeats Mi-na, and as part of the agreement, she reluctantly leaves. The protagonist eventually encounters her again in the wilderness training on her own, believing that they are a thief, she abruptly attacks them, but is defeated. She then comes to the realization that they are the warrior she encountered earlier in the campaign and subsequently apologizes. She then invites them to her home back in South Korea. After traveling to her kingdom, Mi-na battles the protagonist to further improve her skills, but is defeated a third time. Eventually, she recruits a number of followers to help her defeat the protagonist, but they too (alongside herself) are defeated once again. Following her fourth defeat, Mi-na vows that she will not stop until she has defeated the protagonist. Mi-na's father Han-myeong then appears and criticizes Mi-na for attacking the protagonist, whom he sees as a guest, and subsequently apologizes to them for the chaos that her daughter has caused. He then gives them a family heirloom as a gift afterwards. Trivia *Until Soulcalibur III, her name was spelled Seung Mina or Seung Mi Na. *The Soul of Seong Mi-na discipline is available to created characters of the Gladiator class in Soulcalibur III. *Seong Mi-na is the only character in Soulcalibur III ''who requires more than one input at the ending. *Mi-na shares many attacks with the character Kilik, although who "copies" whom is a lot harder to answer than it first appears. On the one hand, in all games that have contained both Mina and Kilik as characters, Kilik has been one of the starting characters, while Mi-na has been an unlockable character, thus giving the impression that she is the "clone" character. However Mi-na was introduced in ''Soul Edge ''which was released before Kilik's debut game ''Soulcalibur meaning he is the clone character. On the other hand; most of the attacks that Mi-na has that makes her similar to Kilik were given to her after Soulalibur. Furthermore, they were taught to her by people who had previously trained Kilik, meaning that they were his attacks originally. So it can still be said that Kilik is a clone of Mi-na gamplay wise. However, her fighting style changed drastically in Soulcalibur III to differentiate from Kilik. *Her Destined Battle in Soulcalibur is Hwang. In Soulcalibur II ''and ''Soulcalibur III, it's Yun-seong. *In almost every version of the Soul series, her default costume is amongst the most revealing ones, with her entire abdomen and navel exposed each time. *In Seong Mi-na's Story Mode in Soulcalibur IV, Talim accompanies her after Mi-na defeats her, Kilik and Xianghua in the second stage. After the fourth stage, Mi-na leaves Talim in charge and carries on ahead to battle Algol. In Yun-seong's Story Mode, Mi-na accompanies him for the rest of his journey after he defeats her, Talim, and Sophitia after the second stage. *Seong Mi-na is nicknamed "Heart and Soul Girl". *For some reason, her Destined Battle in Soulcalibur III ''does not always have the usual Destined Battle music, but other times it will. *In ''Soulcalibur III ''Mi-na will sometimes half-heartedly say that she will "defeat the evils of the ages" - this is a parody of Hwang's line. *Despite appearing in every subsequent game (except for ''Soulcalibur Legends and Soulcalibur V), Seong Mi-na did not appear in the arcade version of ''Soulcalibur II ''along with Sophitia. Navigation Category:Female Category:Honorable Category:Video Game Heroes Category:Soul Calibur Heroes Category:Fighters Category:Martial Artists Category:Warriors Category:Determinators Category:Anime Heroes Category:Teenagers Category:Strong-Willed Category:Amazons Category:Bond Protector Category:Loyal Category:Selfless Category:Manga Heroes Category:Neutral Good Category:One-Man Army Category:Stalkers Category:Wayward Heroes Category:Wrathful Category:Heroic Jerks Category:Anti Hero Category:Lethal Category:Arrogant Category:Elementals